Hello! Looking for advice...

[chamberlain]

Hi! To introduce myself...My name is Gavin and although I have been a long time lurker of Blonde I have never really posted much which I hope to change.

My story is that I have been interested in Poker from a young age and been playing for quite some time now but at a low-medium recreational level. I'm from Nottingham and only really play live at DTD, which more recently due to family commitments has not been as often as I would like however I previously played up to 3 times a week in the low buy-in comps. My live experience basically begins and ends at DTD bar my visit to Vegas last year where I played some small comps at Ceasars winter poker classic. My live win rate is okay for a recreational player with a general good return on cash games and some small tournament wins on a couple of super 50s and XXLs over the past couple of years but nothing much more than that. My online play I feel is my weakest and my win rate is very low . Maybe this is because I'm choosing the wrong tournaments, playing in the wrong places or playing like its a live tournament but I definitely feel there is a hole on my online game.

My overall game hasn't really improved over the last 12 months and I'd really like to start improving so here's my question;

A) from reading my honest background of where I am at the moment, what can you suggest in regards to my online game?

B) can you suggest any coaching or training videos/sites/books which you yourself may of found useful in the past?

C) what are your comments or advice on what i should be doing next if I want to improve my game.

Thanks in advance and hopefully this thread can be the start of me posting more and becoming part of the blonde family!

[Rexas]

Play, lots :p Next time you're at dusk, give me a shout? My name's Matt, I'm there basically every day its open. But yh, seriously, play, lots. When you do, look for the people that always seem to win, that seem to be respected by the community, and who you find it hard to play against, and then look at why they're in this position. Also, gotta say, don't be afraid to ask them  for help, most are more than happy to sit and talk poker.

Can't really say too much about online, it's honestly not my thing, I play very very little.

Looking forward to meeting you sometime soon!

[chamberlain]

Play, lots :p Next time you're at dusk, give me a shout? My name's Matt, I'm there basically every day its open. But yh, seriously, play, lots. When you do, look for the people that always seem to win, that seem to be respected by the community, and who you find it hard to play against, and then look at why they're in this position. Also, gotta say, don't be afraid to ask them  for help, most are more than happy to sit and talk poker.

Can't really say too much about online, it's honestly not my thing, I play very very little.

Looking forward to meeting you sometime soon!

Thanks for the advice! We may of played together before... Do you play the comps or go for cash?

[Rexas]

I play pretty much everything going, a typical degenerate reg

[CHIPPYMAN]

Play, lots :p Next time you're at dusk, give me a shout? My name's Matt, I'm there basically every day its open. But yh, seriously, play, lots. When you do, look for the people that always seem to win, that seem to be respected by the community, and who you find it hard to play against, and then look at why they're in this position. Also, gotta say, don't be afraid to ask them  for help, most are more than happy to sit and talk poker.

Can't really say too much about online, it's honestly not my thing, I play very very little.

Looking forward to meeting you sometime soon!

Thanks for the advice! We may of played together before... Do you play the comps or go for cash?

I WONT take this guy advised if I were u !! He's alway moaning n moaning n moaning even though he's winning .
He's even worse if he's loosing or get a bad beat. It's alright if he give u a bad best ! Best advice is dont trust people that u r going to play with . They will only tell u 60% if what they know n they will take all ur £££ when they sat down and play with u !

[corkeye]

Get active in the forums. Copy and paste hands on the poker hand history board here, possibly other sites too like deuces cracked (even if u don't subscribe u can still post in the forums. This is obviously free and good to get other people's views on what you are doing.

Oh and if u do this Don't post results of the hand or what yr opponent had! That way the views u get will be unaffected by results. Hope this makes sense.

If yr budget will stretch to it I do recommend subscribing to somewhere like that.

[Rexas]

Honestly frankie, I'm disappointed in you

[CHIPPYMAN]

Honestly frankie, I'm disappointed in you

I am telling people what I saw and heard from gossips at Dtd :-)

[MANTIS01]

I thought your op was very well-written.

My advice is to play a lot.

Welcome to the blonde family.

[YEAHMAN123]

Hi chamberlain,

advice i will give is that you look back on each and every hand you play on a live table and question it, make notes on pad or phone if u have to. study hands you won playing bad study hands you THINK you played well. also when you sit on every table study the players from the moment you sit down, who is the donk, who to avoid. most can be gained when your not actually in a hand where u can focus best, guess player cards. having clear reads in games in my opinion is vital to making key decisions. for a long time i simply sat down and played cards i was dealt very abc. hope to learn new things everytime you play

[theprawnidentity]

A) from reading my honest background of where I am at the moment, what can you suggest in regards to my online game?

Although you say your win rate is very low, I wouldn't be surprised if your sample size was really small too.  Its so easy to underestimate the variance involved in tournament poker.  As for ways to improve, the advice given out is usually to 'work on your game'.  I don't think its as simple as this, as in game you don't take a certain line cause you think it's wrong.  You don't know what you don't know, so to speak.  Best thing to do is if at any point during a hand you hesitate, make a note of it and look at it the next day when your mind isn't so caught up in the game.  You might just find that the answer is far more apparent when you're not involved in the hand.  If you're still not sure what the right line is, then post it in the Poker Hand Analysis forum and get advice from others.

B) can you suggest any coaching or training videos/sites/books which you yourself may of found useful in the past?

IMO these are almost essential on the road to becoming a better player.  I have subscribed to probably most of the training sites in the last couple of years and they 100% key to getting new ideas.  I am currently subscribed to Tournament Poker Edge and finding some excellent material and every aspect of tournament play.  You can watch videos from different successful players and they all have completely different styles!  There really is no 'correct' way to go about with tournament poker.  You only have to look at Bigdogpckt5's (absolute maniac, Tournament Poker Edge) and rdcrsn's (absolute nit, Poker X Factor) videos to see examples of this.

If you have the bankroll for it, I would also recommend getting some coaching from a successful online player.  Although the videos are excellent and introduce you to new ideas and ways of thinking, its not always easy to apply or incorporate them into your own game.  Having someone looks through your HH's and point out to you mistakes that you're making (and give you advice that is relevant to your own game) is one of the best things you can do for your own game.

Many of the books are helpful though I particularly liked the Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series (this series explains how top professionals play actual hands and why) and Kill Everyone (which is more a mathematical / theoretical book).

C) what are your comments or advice on what i should be doing next if I want to improve my game.

This really depends on bankroll.  I would say Books < Videos < Coaching.  Its difficult without external input to come up with new ideas for your game.  If you feel like you're not improving anymore then chances are you would benefit from some new idea's / material.  I would strongly recommend starting with the books and videos and see if you like it.  I know some people don't like watching videos and self studying and much prefer to do coaching sessions and HH reviews.  Its all down to the individual and what works best for you.

Welcome to Blonde!!!!

[chamberlain]

@tomsom87 thank you for the examples and sites/video suggestions you have provided. I will definitely start with these as I find videos are a good way for me to learn

[SubZERO]

A) from reading my honest background of where I am at the moment, what can you suggest in regards to my online game?

Although you say your win rate is very low, I wouldn't be surprised if your sample size was really small too.  Its so easy to underestimate the variance involved in tournament poker.  As for ways to improve, the advice given out is usually to 'work on your game'.  I don't think its as simple as this, as in game you don't take a certain line cause you think it's wrong.  You don't know what you don't know, so to speak.  Best thing to do is if at any point during a hand you hesitate, make a note of it and look at it the next day when your mind isn't so caught up in the game.  You might just find that the answer is far more apparent when you're not involved in the hand.  If you're still not sure what the right line is, then post it in the Poker Hand Analysis forum and get advice from others.

B) can you suggest any coaching or training videos/sites/books which you yourself may of found useful in the past?

IMO these are almost essential on the road to becoming a better player.  I have subscribed to probably most of the training sites in the last couple of years and they 100% key to getting new ideas.  I am currently subscribed to Tournament Poker Edge and finding some excellent material and every aspect of tournament play.  You can watch videos from different successful players and they all have completely different styles!  There really is no 'correct' way to go about with tournament poker.  You only have to look at Bigdogpckt5's (absolute maniac, Tournament Poker Edge) and rdcrsn's (absolute nit, Poker X Factor) videos to see examples of this.

If you have the bankroll for it, I would also recommend getting some coaching from a successful online player.  Although the videos are excellent and introduce you to new ideas and ways of thinking, its not always easy to apply or incorporate them into your own game.  Having someone looks through your HH's and point out to you mistakes that you're making (and give you advice that is relevant to your own game) is one of the best things you can do for your own game.

Many of the books are helpful though I particularly liked the Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series (this series explains how top professionals play actual hands and why) and Kill Everyone (which is more a mathematical / theoretical book).

C) what are your comments or advice on what i should be doing next if I want to improve my game.

This really depends on bankroll.  I would say Books < Videos < Coaching.  Its difficult without external input to come up with new ideas for your game.  If you feel like you're not improving anymore then chances are you would benefit from some new idea's / material.  I would strongly recommend starting with the books and videos and see if you like it.  I know some people don't like watching videos and self studying and much prefer to do coaching sessions and HH reviews.  Its all down to the individual and what works best for you.

Welcome to Blonde!!!!

good post mang

i'd also throw in runitonce for a training site

Welcome and GL